History of Wellness and Travel

OK, I’m just starting this post now and will be adding to it as I find more information.

I was curious to discover when and how the wellness hotel came to be. From the best research on the internet I could do, most of the earliest wellness hotels originated in Europe. But mostly there they are basically just spa’s. Stay tuned for more info on that subject. I’m still researching this.

There’s a site over at Wellness Hotel Review that appears to be promising. We’ll see what more they post in the weeks/months coming up. They have listed several wellness hotels which seem pretty darn cool. Mainly the wellness hotel in the U.S. started as hotels for patients receiving treatment at nearby medical facilities. Such as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester or any other large medical facility. You can almost always find a nice hotel (many actually) near these large medical complexes. But just because they’re near a medical clinic does not make them a wellness hotel.

I do think the line between what is exactly a wellness hotel or not should be a little more defined. Some claim to be in this category simply by having a spa. I like to think that they need to have more specific allegiance with a well known medical or health facility to be considered a health and wellness center or hotel.

One huge health and wellness institution is Cooper Aerobics. Cooper has many facilities and a great lodge and is a complete health and wellness conglomerate. They’re based out of Dallas so you’ll have to travel to Texas to check them out. More on that later.

The new age of healthtel and travel

Everyone likes to be pampered when we travel right? How about taking a vacation and getting a complete health makeover? This seems to be the new trend, enter the healthtel or wellness hotel.

Of course we went over the basics in our “what is a wellness hotel” post, but they’re much more than that. The more research I’ve done on these new trendy destinations, the more I’m amazed at what they offer. It seems that most of the health hotels in the U.S. seem to offer more services geared toward over all health-care then their European counterparts. With that said however, Europe is where the wellness hotel originated from. So that’s not to say the wellness hotels across the pond are as luxurious or dedicated to health and wellness.

It just seems, as most other industries, the U.S. has commercialized something more. That is evident from the fact that originally the wellness hotel was based around large medical complexes, but more recently we’re seeing the healthtel become an entire complex in itself. Additionally, we’re seeing more and more destinations based solely on weight loss such as the weight loss boot camp.

What is a wellness hotel?

Need a vacation? Need a good health assessment? Welcome to the wellness hotel!

Wellness hotels have been around for years, mostly popular in Europe, the first known wellness hotel was opened in the U.S. around the early 1920′s. Also referred to as a “healthtel,” the wellness hotel can take on many different functions.

Some wellness hotels are simply located next to major medical facilities such as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. They offer a place for patients or family and friends to stay while a loved one is receiving long-term treatment. Other wellness hotels are complete wellness centers in themselves. Such as Cooper Aerobics wellness corporation in Dallas, TX.

Other healthel’s may simply offer spa treatment or other spa like features. So make sure you do your research when looking into a wellness hotel for business travel to make sure you’re getting the services you are expecting. It’s a good idea also to research review sites to see what others have experiences.

So the next time you travel, why not make it a wellness hotel?